I laughed. “Men probably think the same about women.”
“No wonder there is so much misunderstanding between couples—they never really communicate.”
“Out of fear of what they might hear,” I said. “My mom believes Josh has fallen in love with you and he’s refusing to admit it to himself. And I agree. I have never seen my brother tied in knots over a woman as he is with you.”
“I think I’m falling for your brother myself, Pepper. I’ve thought about a future with him, which is something I haven’t done with other men. They were nothing more than passing interests, but not so your brother. I look forward to seeing him and miss him when I don’t, but the store has been rocking this summer. And Josh has been working a lot of overtime with the summer crowd here, making it difficult to get any real time together. And—” She shook her head.
I said what she wasn’t sure she should, since I knew my brother so well. “And there are times he can be impatient, stubborn, and demanding.”
Kate let out a long-held breath. “Exactly, which frustrates me since he is so patient in dealing with all the people he has to deal with as a police officer.”
“He doesn’t question his status as a police officer, that’s clear to him. You’re not, so not knowing makes him anxious. It’s not an excuse just a fact about him.”
Kate smiled. “That would make sense.”
“It’s up to you what you do, Kate. I just wanted to put a good word in for my brother, even though he’s an idiot at times.”
She laughed, then asked, “What advice would you give me?”
“Run,” I said with a brief laugh. “Seriously though, Josh is a good guy, but don’t tell him I said that. When he makes his mind up about something he pursues it until he gets it, like being a police officer. He wanted that since he was a kid and he worked towards it. I think he wants you but hasn’t realized yet that it’s because he’s fallen in love with you. You might want to give him time to come to his senses, figure it out, and finally get his head out of his ass.”
Kate laughed loud enough to draw attention from nearby customers.
“That is very good advice, Pepper. I believe I will do just that,” Kate said after she stopped laughing.
“Good, now that I’ve seen to my brother’s problem, I’m free,” I said and shook my head. “Not likely.”
“Before you go, Pepper, I wanted to ask, is Amy all right. She wasn’t her usual, talkative self when she was here, and she bought a ton of romances, a safe place to escape to.”
“Something is up with her, but she’s not saying. I’m going to give her a few days, then she either spills the beans or I’ll make her.”
“If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. You and Amy have become dear friends to me.”
“Thanks, Kate, I appreciate that, and Amy and I feel the same about you.”
“Excuse me, miss, can you help me with something?” a woman called out.
“Yes, of course,” Kate said with a lovely smile, then gave me a quick, “See you soon.”
I went out onto the porch to find Mo missing and the rocker empty. I walked down the few steps to the sidewalk and spotted them both. Mo was licking his lips, and the elderly man was licking an ice cream cone and carrying an empty doggy ice cream cup.
The man looked guilty when he spotted me and quickly dropped the empty doggy cup in one of the decorative trash cans, another one of my mom’s beautification ideas. She insisted that people would be more likely to drop their trash into something pretty rather than a drab colored container. And she was right.
“I am so sorry,” he apologized when I reached them both. “I mentioned to Mo how my wife will only let me have an occasional ice cream and how I really could go for an ice cream?—”
“And Mo rose to the occasion as soon as he heard the words ice cream and walked you to Larry’s Ice Cream & Candy Shop,”I finished for him, knowing Mo’s reaction to the word ice cream when we’re in town.
The man laughed. “Larry knew Mo as did most folks there. The server knew exactly what ice cream he liked. But, boy, oh, boy, did he get excited when the mayor entered.”
“The mayor is my mom, who spoils him, and his favorite ice cream is strawberry,” I said, and glanced at Mo. He looked at the elderly man as if to say he needed the company.
“My favorite too,” the man said and took a lick of his strawberry ice cream cone. Then he glanced down at Mo. “It looks like we part company here, pal. Thank you for taking me to the ice cream shop and for the company. You made my day.”
Mo extended his paw to the man and he shook it.
“And thank you for sharing Mo with me. He’s an exceptionally brilliant dog. Now I’m going to go sit on the porch and finish my ice cream, hopefully before my wife catches me.”
He chuckled and walked off.
